I am not sure I fully understand why Ian Stewart got a 10-game suspension for saying things, many of which were pretty much true. This report says that the suspension is because he violated the “loyalty clause” in his contract. I understand private employers have the right to punish employees who say things about them that the employer doesn’t like. Still, in Ian Stewart’s case, it is pretty clear he is not going to be getting back to Chicago, as he said. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if some people in Chicago don’t like him. The idea, however, that the Cubs are getting good production out of the third base spot is silly. The people we have at third base are basically other teams’ utility players or people they have released.
I can’t help but wonder if the problem here is the embarrassment that Ian Stewart has caused for Cubs’ management. Not only was the trade of Tyler Colvin and D. J. LaMahieu to the Rockies for Ian Stewart a bad deal. But the re-signing of Stewart for another $2 million over the past winter compounded the mistake. Tom Ricketts keeps telling us he can’t afford to spend more money on players, and then Theo, et al, spend $2 million on a guy who did his injury rehabbing last year at home, instead of with the team. That should have been a sign, but apparently it wasn’t. And now it looks like the Cubs are happy to have an excuse to save a little money on a contract they should have never signed.
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